Apprentice
by monk-of-the-kazaana
Summary: After an attempt on his life, 6 year old Naruto Uzumaki is pulled out of his life in Konoha and taken into the tutelage of Jiraiya. Pairing: Naru/Hina. No sex, rated M for language, crude humor, and graphic details. Being reviewed, revised, and continued.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright, it's been a while since I've written, but not long since I've read fanfictions. I have to say that I miss it because I've read some truly awesome fanfics out there , so first and foremost props to the writing community out there I'm glad you're still around. I'd like to apologize to those who care for falling off the face of the planet; I had school, girls, school, parents, and both my computers breaking D: but I got a job so of course the first thing I bought was a laptop after I got a car. But now I am back in business and ready to bring some, presumably, good ideas to my writing. :D so on we go, I'll be writing a few chapters ahead if I can so don't be surprised if I wait a bit before coming up with a new one. Also I might steal ideas and stuff from my other stories, for those that read it I did like the idea I had with Elemental, but I deleted it so those who haven't read it will have no idea what I'm talking about

Disclaimer for my entire story: I do NOT own Naruto, pretty self explanatory.

Chapter 1: Introduction

**(Inside the Hokage's office)**

"Are you sure you want to do this Jiraiya? He might not be too keen on it and it will be hard to get him back into the fold in time for the Academy… and even if I do then there is no guarantee he won't harbor a degree of hatred to the village that forsook his unknowing sacrifice to harbor the 9 tails." the wizened Sarutobi asked his white haired ex-student.

"The boy needs a proper life, and this recent attempt on his life is NOT what Minato would want for him. It's time I fulfilled my promise as godfather and gave him a good life. I'll make sure he understands the implications of the Kyuubi when he is ready, and he's Minato's son, his love for Konoha might as well be inherited" Jiraiya said jokingly, "besides, you know as well as I do that even if you tell me no. I will be taking him with me"

Hiruzen sighed to himself as he knew this was no idle threat. He debated on how he should handle this situation. They both sat in tense silence before Hiruzen seemed to get a gleam in his eyes. The old Hokage decided he had no choice, but that doesn't mean he couldn't influence things a little.

"I will agree to this on a few conditions Jiraiya. 1. Naruto has to be back in time to take the Academy test. 2. He has to serve on a Genin team of MY choosing. 3. He is expected to be informed and taught of his heritage, Kyuubi, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, proper etiquette, and anything else you deem appropriate as his training progresses. I plan on naming him as my successor at some point if you can train him right. And I want you to inform him of this decision; I have a hunch that it will make him more receptive of the idea as well as giving him motivation to work hard." Hiruzen said evenly, shocking the perverted sage.

"Y-you can't be serious Sarutobi-sensei, Naruto as the Hokage? That won't pass by the Council and you know it." Jiraiya exasperatedly replied.

"I understand Jiraiya, but under the right circumstances, with the right leverage, and with enough talking to the council and warming them up to it might get passed. And you know as well as I do that Minato's son would be a great Kage like he was. I can already tell you that the boy has massive a massive chakra pool and stubbornness and determination like both of his parents did, and if he's as talented as his father then I couldn't think of a more able successor. You cannot argue with me on this, I know that I am old and that I need a successor with the appropriate power. With you refusing the title, Tsunade claiming disassociation, and Orochimaru turning renegade we simply don't have anyone of the necessary caliber to take my place. I'm not asking you to turn him into a Kage-level ninja in the short amount of time that he'll be under your tutelage but understand that this _is _my intention and _is_ my word." The Hokage retorted, pulling rank on the other ninja unnecessarily, and watching Jiraiya's face turn from one of shock to annoyance.

"Fine, Hiruzen-dono, I will do as you wish." The toad sage replied spitefully before leaving to find his godson.

Hiruzen sighed before leaning back and taking a hearty pull from his pipe and mulling over the meeting, figuring out how to make it work and where it would lead his beloved village.

**(In Naruto's apartment bedroom)**

Naruto sat up from his bed in a hurry due to his massive sneeze, knowing subconsciously that someone was talking about him. Deciding that it wasn't worth his time the boy rolled over to try and sleep despite the pain in his injured arm from the attack on his life earlier that day. At least that was his plan before his front door suddenly shot into his room from across the apartment.

A/N: Well there it is, chapter one. I love a good cliffhanger that hopefully makes you want to read more ;) I'll start work on chapter 2 immediately and it will be significantly longer so don't worry.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter 2 as promised. I'm gonna maybe have a few OC's in this story, I'm still debating on it. Most likely a yes though, and for those people who don't like an overpowered Naruto story don't worry, he can't master everything that fast but he will come back pretty strong. But since I'm not going to let him learn Kage Bunshin until later then he'll be S.O.L. on learning at obscene rates but I will make him learn things pretty fast since he's going to have almost 6 years under Jiraiya's wing. It'll work out pretty fair, I think. I will however say a few things since I'm not going along with the canon.

Itachi will not be ordered to kill the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke won't be an obsessive weirdo, but will still be trying to best his brother since he'll still be under his shadow.

Akatsuki as an organization will not exist, however I might have a few of the characters from it, it's just I won't be able to do justice to those characters and that arc by fiddling with it.

There may or may not be a war, debating on that too.

So all in all I will be trying to make this story my best one yet without going along with the canon too much, sorry to those people who enjoy those stories. And I also noticed that I named the 1st chapter Departure without anybody actually going anywhere so I changed the name ^_^ sorry for the noob mistake, I rushed that chapter.

Also, instead of writing my own descriptions for already made characters I'm copying, pasting, and paraphrasing the ones out of Narutopedia ^_^ just so credit is given where it's needed.

Anyways…

Chapter 2: Departure (this is why I noticed ;3)

**(In Naruto's apartment bedroom)**

Naruto sat up from his bed in a hurry due to his massive sneeze, knowing subconsciously that someone was talking about him. Deciding that it wasn't worth his time the boy rolled over to try and sleep despite the pain in his injured arm from the attack on his life earlier that day. At least that was his plan before his front door suddenly shot into his room from across the apartment. Grabbing his kunai from his bedside table and flipping into a better position, the young blonde prepared for a fight.

"Whoa there, Naruto, I didn't come to hurt you" said a voice from outside.

"Then why is my door gone? And show yourself!" yelled the Jinchuuriki "I've already had one attempt on my life, so don't think you can scare me!"

Jiraiya stepped around the door and looked into the shabby apartment; taking in the expired but still recently eaten food, the dust, the holes in the walls as well as the poorly painted over threats on the boy's life, and of course the young Naruto himself on his bed prepared to fight for his life. The blonde looked worse for wear, his left arm had a healing bruise on the shoulder, his face had a small cut that ran horizontal from his right eye to his ear, and his pajamas were too big on him. The toad sage deduced that they were probably an old pair of Hiruzen's.

"Now Naruto, is that any way to greet your godfather?" Jiraiya said with a smile, cutting to the chase before the kid thought he was a threat. "To answer your question there was a trap on your door, I didn't expect it and I expect that it was there to change the fact that you survived the earlier attempt on your life, which is why I'm here. I want to fulfill my role as your godfather."

Naruto, who had listened to the old guy's words, slowly deflated from anger to shock.

"Godfather? But I don't have any family…" Naruto trailed off before suddenly adopting an angry expression. "I bet this is another one of your stupid tricks! Well I'm not buying it! The only one who gives a damn about me is the Hokage, and he would have told me if I had a godfather!" And with that Naruto leaped at the white-haired intruder, holding his kunai up and ready to do what it takes to survive in his life, until Jiraiya pulled the kunai out of his grip and tossing it into the wall before grabbing Naruto roughly. He was shocked as he felt a hot liquid hitting his cheek from the face of intruder that was now… hugging him.

"Naruto… you look exactly like I thought I would" Jiraiya said, having suddenly broken from the sight of his pupil's son having such a desperate and wounded look in his eyes. "I know that it's hard to believe, and I will say now that I am sorry that I haven't come sooner. Once I heard about the attempt on your life I came here and demanded that the Hokage let me take you with me so that I can give you the life you should be having, and fulfilling the duty that I should be doing, which is taking care of you. If you give me a chance I can explain everything."

The blonde recovered from the shock and looked at the person who had just set him down. His supposed godfather was about 6'3" with ridiculous white hair that wasn't unlike his own in its fight against gravity, with two shoulder-length bangs that went down both sides of his face. He had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for Oil, which struck the young boy as weird. Naruto noticed that he wore a predominately green outfit; under which he wore mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs and was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, a red cloak with two yellow circles near each armpit, and a huge scroll on his back which Naruto could deduce no purpose for. Despite the unorthodox appearance, Naruto noticed that Jiraiya gave off an almost tangible aura of power.

"Make it quick, old man." Naruto huffed, annoyed more than angry that he didn't have a door and his intruder was claiming that he knew him.

"Okay, first off I am Jiraiya of the Sannin, one of the 3 legendary students of Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the man who trained your father. The reason I haven't come to get you before is because I was busy handling my duties to Konoha and monitoring the movements of my traitorous ex-teammate Orochimaru, and I had thought that Hiruzen would have handled things better here. It didn't occur to me that he would be too busy with his Hokage duties to properly raise you. Also, I had no idea things were this bad until I heard that an angry Academy student attacked you and almost killed you. Though I'm here now to take you with me to train you as my apprentice like I did with your father before you if you'll let me." Jiraiya leveled to his godson, hoping he'd say yes, and having a few aces up his sleeve to get him to do so.

Naruto pondered what the man was saying, it's not like he was particularly attached to his apartment and wouldn't mind leaving it behind but he did love Konoha and wasn't too keen on leaving it despite the attempts on his life. He figured that it couldn't hurt to ask a bit more before deciding.

"What did the old man say about this? Who's Orochimaru? Will I be leaving Konoha? Where are we going? Will we get to go to a bunch of cool places? What am I gonna learn? Who was my dad?" Naruto listed off, exemplifying the typical kid enthusiasm once he started realized that this could actually be a really good chance for him to realize his dream of being a Hokage.

Jiraiya sighed and thought for a second before smirking and answering, "Well old man Hokage said that he agrees. Orochimaru is a ninja that betrayed Konoha. Yes, you'll be leaving. We're going to a lot of places, most of them being cool. You're going to learn powerful jutsu among many other things. And as collateral, I'm not going to tell you who your dad was unless you agree to go with me. I wouldn't even be allowed to mention his name here because an enemy could be watching."

Naruto pondered this for a moment before turning around and going to his closet to grab all of his clothes and tossing them on the floor, and getting all of his other belongings and tossing them into the pile until he had a motley assortment of objects sitting in a meager pile on the floor.

"I'm going to go, but on one condition, I get to come back later. This is my home and I can't fulfill my dream of becoming Hokage and being acknowledged by everyone if I don't live here" Naruto stated, showing for a split second a level of maturity and loyalty that was unusual for a kid his age.

"That can be done, now get your stuff together" The toad sage replied, bending over and sealing Naruto's belongings in a medium sized scroll once they were gathered, "And yes, you'll be learning that too. Before we set out I want you to know a few things Naruto. One, I will be showing you a lot of tough love for your own good. I want you to get strong and be able to proudly say you're my apprentice. Two, I tolerate very little crap, you will do what I say how I say it. You can ask questions but do not question my orders. I have powerful enemies and you have to be able to follow my order to run if I say run. Three, my training methods are hard and I don't expect you to master everything soon. That being said I _do_ however expect you to strive to master everything soon, cause if you do, well, let's just say I can put in a good word with the Hokage to name you the successor to his title. Okay?"

The reaction Jiraiya got was not what he expected, Naruto grinned from ear to ear in a genuine smile and jumped up and hugged him.

"I will w-work as hard as I can, Jiraiya" the now crying blonde said, overcome with the fact that someone he barely knew already seemed to care a great deal for him, something he was not used to in the slightest.

Jiraiya only smiled and nodded to the young boy before putting the scroll in his pocket and his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Now get dressed, we're leaving tonight. I have somewhere I gotta be." And with that the two set off, Naruto leaving behind a thank you note for Sarutobi for everything he had done and saying that the Hokage better not ruin his hat while Naruto was gone.

-End-

A/N: Well, that's the chapter, I hope you like it. Next chapter will be the start of the training, which will be done in a time skipping kind of manner. I'll show you the important parts then skip a little, and so on. I hope I'll get a few more reviews and that someone will hit me up on that beta request cause I could use it ^_^ .

Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Rewritten ;3

This chapter as well as a few others will cover Naruto's training and his adventure over the 6 years he will be spending with Jiraiya.

I also opted for the story to only focus on Naruto, letting things happen in the background and explaining them only a little. Let your imagination fill them in .

Thank you for all the reviews ^_^ I reply to the ones that need a response when I can but please keep them coming.

Chapter 3: Training

**(Last chapter)**

"Now get dressed, we're leaving tonight. I have somewhere I gotta be." And with that the two set off to, Naruto leaving behind a thank you note for Sarutobi which read:

Jiji-sama,

Thank you for everything you've done, but I'm going to leave now and come back stronger so that I can earn the right to wear that hat. It better not be ruined when I get back.

Try not to go crazy without me.

-Naruto

"We'll be staying in one of my houses in the Land of Fire for the duration of your training Naruto, I think it's surrounding area will be great for what I have in store, and the village near there is one of the vacation spots for the Hyuuga family so there's a store where we can get supplies regularly" Jiraiya explained as they walked away from gates of Konoha.

"Cool!" the young blonde exclaimed, "What are you going to be teaching me though?"

"Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Fuuinjutsu, weapon training, first aid, trap setting, proper etiquette, calligraphy, and whatever I deem necessary." The white haired sage master replied.

"Ugh, only half of that seems interesting though!" Naruto shot back, not looking forward to the boring parts.

"Listen kid, I saw that note back there, you want to become Hokage right?" questioned Jiraiya.

"Of course! They're the coolest and most powerful Ninja, and everyone accepts them!" said Naruto excitedly.

"Well then, you should know that the Hokage does more than just be strong. They lead their villages in times of war, coordinate missions, deal with politics, and otherwise work to improve their village. They need to learn how to do all that so you do too. And let me let you in a secret, okay?" explained the Sannin.

"What is it?" said the boy, as curiosity got the better of him.

"The old man told me that if I trained you well enough you could be in the running for Hokage, yourself. So do wh-…" Jiraiya was cut off as the boy started jumping up and down.

"I'M GONNA TO BE HOKAGE! I'M GONNA BE HOKAGE!" chanted the blonde, happily.

'This is going to be a long 6 years' thought Jiraiya, as he dealt with the chanting for part of the walk to his home about 75 miles away from Konoha.

**(Jiraiya's house, early the next day)**

Cold water was splashed on a sore Naruto's face as Jiraiya abruptly woke the boy up.

"Time to wake up Naruto! It's your first day of training!" sang a cheery Jiraiya, laughing at the hapless boy as he shot up screaming and shivering in both the cold water and the cold morning air coming from his open window.

"B-b-but it's t-too early for train-ning!" Naruto complained with his teeth chattering.

"You better get used to it, because I refuse to have a lazy student with a poor sleep schedule. I'm training you day in and day out and it starts now. You're going to get a crash course in your morning routine here. You will wake up at 7:30, bathe in the stream outside, get dressed, eat, and report to whatever training spot I choose by 8:30. If you're up late you get cold water." Jiraiya said while ticking off each point with his fingers.

"F-fine, but your training better not suck" sulked the boy as he trudged outside with a towel and a change of the clothes that Jiraiya had provided. He was still sore from their very long walk yesterday, having spent most of the day talking and getting to know each other. Jiraiya and Naruto had both found out that they had similar likes and dislikes and got along well, though Naruto didn't agree with Jiraiya's perverted nature, vowing to not become one during the training.

The house where they were living was a simple one story house with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom with no shower, and a kitchen. The biggest room in the house was the armory where Naruto would be learning to use a weapon of his choice at a later point.

Stripping off his sleepwear, Naruto plunged into the stream, finding it was actually pretty warm since upstream it was fed by a local hot springs (leave it to Jiraiya to live near one). The boy swam to a spot that was deep enough to cover most of him but still allowing him to stand. Naruto dipped his head underwater and sat there, enjoying the feel of the warm water running through his hair. Once he felt sufficiently clean the boy swam out and dried off. He didn't fail to notice that most of his soreness had worn away in the soothing waters. Dressed in his training attire, which was simple and comfortable: black sweatpants and a long sleeved white shirt, the young Jinchuuriki walked back into the house to the smell of breakfast being cooked.

"Is that ramen?" Naruto asked as he sat at the table and watched Jiraiya work.

"No, though I did hear about your love of that from Hiruzen. This is a healthy breakfast, which you will be learning how to make in the future. Every good Shinobi, especially one that will predominately live on his own, should know how to make a meal for himself" explained Jiraiya, setting miso soup, rice, and raw egg in front of Naruto as well as a cup of green tea.

"This looks… gross" stated the boy, to which Jiraiya smacked the side of his head.

"You need to learn 2 things very quickly Naruto. First, you will refer to me as Jiraiya-sensei or Jiraiya-sama, both of which use the correct honorific. Second, manners are very important to ninja because some people might not hire you if you offend them with stupid remarks" said Jiraiya.

"Ugh, _fine_, Jiraiya-sensei" retorted Naruto, rubbing his head. He grabbed the chopsticks in his hand and snapped them apart to use them to grab some rice, until Jiraiya smack his hand.

"You have to say your blessings, and hold those right" dictated the toad sage, ready to beat manners and etiquette into the boy from the get-go.

"Itadakimasu" murmured the frustrated blonde, before altering his hand shape on the chopsticks and getting ready to eat again. Jiraiya slapped his hand and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, snapping them and holding them expertly in his hand.

"No, like this" Jiraiya showed the boy, drilling him repeatedly until Naruto finally got it right. The soup was cold by the time he got to eat.

**(2 hours later, in the armory)**

"Okay, Naruto, put down your brush and let's have a look" Jiraiya said, getting up from his own paper. He had been writing down a schedule for Naruto to follow for his training, since he would be absent a lot to keep up with some of his spy duties and wouldn't always be able to leave a tutor.

The toad sage walked over to his young protégé and looked down at the paper. He wasn't too surprised, as his observations of the boy had been spot on. He had chosen a kanji that required a lot of flowing motions, and even though the kanji wasn't well written Jiraiya could tell that those were the ones that he did the best.

"Not bad, though you need to straighten up here and here, and this part here needs more of a curve. But still, not too bad for your first day" he said as he ruffled the boys hair, noting the genuine smile on the boy's face at being congratulated.

"Now onto your next section of training, Chakra Control. This will be your most difficult training at the moment because you have large chakra reserves and you won't be learning any Ninjutsu until you exhibit some decent control. To control chakra you have to understand it" explained Jiraiya, "Chakra is essential to even the most basic jutsu; it is a mixture of the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channeled through the chakra circulatory system, to any of the 361 chakra points, which are called tenketsu, in the body. Through various methods, the chakra can be manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water, exhaling fire or creating illusions."

"That is amazing…" breathed the blonde as he thought of the wonders of chakra.

"Indeed, now, you need to learn to actually tap into this power. It takes a bit of getting used to but it will be second nature by the time I'm done with you" said the Sannin as he reached over and placed the tip of his finger on Naruto's palm. He released a miniscule amount of chakra into the boy's hand, causing Naruto's chakra to react and fluctuate around it, shocking the young blonde who immediately yanked his hand away.

"That felt weird" said Naruto as he scratched his palm.

"It will, because it wasn't you controlling the chakra, but that was to give you a general idea of what it will feel like. This will be the hardest part of your training for me to help you with because I can't really control it for you, you have to discover it on your own, and you'll work on it for the rest of the week after calligraphy before we move onto Taijutsu and some Fuuinjutsu. I'll be tattooing you with a few seals, so be ready." warned the white haired Sannin before leaving the young boy to his practice to go and make lunch, returning thirty minutes later with a tray of food in each hand.

"Okay Naruto, let's get have some food before you continue" said Jiraiya, setting the trays down and murmuring a blessing before digging in. Naruto walked over still frustrated that he hadn't managed to get his chakra flowing at all.

"Itadakimasu" he said before also eating, making sure that he had the right hand shape to avoid getting smacked. Jiraiya looked at his brooding demeanor and grinned knowingly.

"Naruto, you can't expect yourself to get it on the first try, you need to stay calm at all times so that you can concentrate. That's one of the basic rules of Shinobi. Chakra takes a bit of time before you can start molding it at will" preached Jiraiya.

"I know, I just don't know what I'm supposed to really be _doing_ Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto seethed, his frustration clearly showing.

"I'll help you once we're done eating, for now let's go over what we're going to be doing the rest of the day" the toad sage said, pulling out a book.

"After chakra training, which will last until three, you will begin learning first aid methods which will last from three until four. At four you will have a free period to do with as you will. At five you will familiarize yourself with the weaponry, and at six we eat dinner and after that you will wash your clothes and the weapons, bathe, and then read this until you fall asleep. This is a general history of Konoha, its clans, and its customs. You'll have a more detailed training schedule tomorrow, because I need to run into town for a few things and won't be back until the next day" Jiraiya explained in between bites, with the blonde listening intently.

"Okay, Jiraiya-sensei" Naruto said, deciding that if Jiraiya would be putting this much care into his training that he would try his absolute best to learn everything he could. The 2 continued to eat in comfortable silence until they were done.

"Alright boy, take off your shirt" said Jiraiya suddenly, surprising his student. Naruto looked puzzled but took it off anyways.

"Chakra is created through the combination of physical and mental energies here," began the sage, poking Naruto in the stomach. "The chakra is then spun in a tight circle while you build it up before being moved through your body to your chosen destination, be it your hand, feet, or mouth. It can be molded further through the use of hand seals which I will teach you later. Now, pay attention to how this feels." And with that the sage placed his hand over the boy's stomach and brought chakra to it. Once it was there Jiraiya spun it in a tight circle before suddenly lifting his hand until only a finger was touching and moving it quickly up his chest, down his arm, and finally off the tip of Naruto's finger. The blonde's eyes which had been closed for most of the motion opened suddenly and adopting an intense concentrated look as Naruto worked to replicate the feeling. After about 2 minutes Naruto smiled at his teacher and expelled chakra out of his hands, which the experienced ninja didn't fail to sense.

"Very, very good Naruto! That is the most basic form of Chakra manipulation. Now, you're going to spend the rest of the week working on that so you can do it faster, as well as making it finer. Don't "shoot" the chakra out, instead try to make it like a flame, constant and controlled, this will be necessary for almost everything I will be teaching you" stated the proud teacher, having not expected his student to get it on the first day, but also not failing to notice the seal that appeared over the concentrating boy's stomach.

**(5 o'clock that same day)**

"Alright Naruto, these are the typical tools of your average ninja and the staple to your arsenal. Ninja use these to create openings, execute plans, and provide versatility. The tools in front of you are kunai, shuriken, exploding notes, scrolls, hip pouch, holster, bandages, tourniquet, and wire. Kunai are for slashing, stabbing, and throwing while shuriken are only for throwing and are typically used to set off traps. Exploding notes are exactly what they sound like. Scrolls are used for sealing and advanced storage. Your hip pouch will mostly hold your bandages, wire, tourniquet, and scrolls. Your holster can hold shuriken and kunai. The combination of these tools can be the deciding point in any battle, forming elaborate traps, escape plans, and battle strategies. You'll learn more about that tomorrow, today you're going to see how good your aim is. I don't expect it to be great but some people have had a knack for it" explained the experienced ninja, giving Naruto the shuriken and kunai before taking the notes and other items away and pointing at the targets that were 25 feet away.

"I'll do my best, sensei" vowed the young blonde as he took a kunai in hand and tested the weight. He spun it around on the rung a few times before stopping it relatively easy and grasping the hilt. Naruto took a deep breath and took a stance before throwing the kunai haphazardly. It hit at the very bottom of the target, which was considerably impressive as it wasn't very large. Smiling, Naruto shifted his stance, angle, and strength a bit every time he threw, resulting in 1 bulls-eye by the time he ran out of the 30 kunai.

"Wow, Naruto that was great. You seem to have a great sense of balance and motion. Try flicking your wrist more and using less shoulder, other than those 2 minor grievances it appears we won't have to focus on your aim with kunai much. Now try the shuriken" praised Jiraiya, pleased that he wouldn't have to drill aim into the boy. He watched as Naruto went through roughly the same routine with shuriken, scoring 4 bulls-eyes this time out of the 25 shuriken. He couldn't help but feel that Naruto would be growing into a spectacular ninja.

A/N: Well, there it is. The first day of Naruto's training. Now I know it seems slightly unfair in how Naruto is learning things so fast but it's mostly because Jiraiya is a good teacher when he's present, but Naruto's growth is going to be considerably stunted because of the fact that Jiraiya won't always be there to guide him so thoroughly. I'm going to break Naruto's training into time skips like before but at a much more spread out pace: one day, one week, 1st year, 3rd year, and 6th year. This means 4 more chapters of Naruto's tenure in Jiraiya's care. I'm going to be introducing a couple of OC's in the role of tutors that Jiraiya ropes into his training in one way or another. Also for the astute people, there's a few reasons he's near a village that is used a vacation spot for the Hyuuga, which I'm sure some people can venture a guess about :3

Let me know how you like the new changes and new training ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Chapter 4, from here on things will be picking up a bit of speed, this chapter will have his first week, and first year on it, which was kind of difficult to write so I took my time on it to make sure I did it right.

I'm also writing a bit ahead, making the Genin teams and what-not as well as righting a few character descriptions and situations that will be either put into the training chapters or introduced through a flashback. There's a lot of research going into this since I'm trying to make certain events coincide with my story so bear with me

I'll try to explain everything I can as I go along but if you have any questions about the chapter or what went on either leave them in the comments section and have them addressed in the next chapter or send me a PM and I will reply with an answer as long as I don't think it will give too much away. ^_^ Anyways, thank you all for the comments you're giving me, you're motivating me to work a lot more on the story and put more effort into it so keep them coming!

Chapter 4: The First Year

**(Last chapter, end of the first day of training)**

"Wow, Naruto that was great. You seem to have a great sense of balance and motion. Try flicking your wrist more and using less shoulder, other than those 2 minor grievances it appears we won't have to focus on your aim with kunai much. Now try the shuriken" praised Jiraiya, pleased that he wouldn't have to drill aim into the boy. He watched as Naruto went through roughly the same routine with shuriken, scoring 4 bulls-eyes this time out of the 25 shuriken. He couldn't help but feel that Naruto would be growing into a spectacular ninja.

**(later that week, outside of the house)**

"Where is he?" Naruto asked himself aloud. He was waiting for Jiraiya who had left 2 days prior with only his schedule for Naruto to learn by. The blonde was getting pretty good at kunai and shuriken throwing, and was about halfway through the book on Konoha. His first aid training was coming along nicely, with him beginning to learn and memorize the use of many herbs as poisons for his traps, which he was also starting to learn, and as medicine. He had found out early on that he had a knack for memorizing names and facts as well as good muscle memory, but for the life of him he just couldn't get the hang of chakra manipulation. Sure he could expel chakra for long periods of time but it would fluctuate too often and as such he knew that he would have a long way to go.

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently while he waited for Jiraiya. He wanted to ask him about the seal he had noticed on his stomach that would show up whenever he expelled chakra. The wait went on for another 30 minutes until finally Jiraiya could be seen walking up in the distance, wearing the usual attire with the added addition of a medium sized scroll under his arm. The toad sage seemed to be in a good mood as he talked amicably with the man next to him. Naruto, who hadn't expected someone else to come with Jiraiya, and studied the new arrival as the duo approached. The man, obviously in his early thirties, had on a black kimono shirt with white border, matching pants with a white sash, and traditional wooden sandals. Naruto immediately noticed this as the traditional garb of the Hyuuga clan and noticed the man's white eyes which confirmed his guess.

Once the two men were close Naruto bowed before the Hyuuga politely, waiting for him to speak as was the custom.

"Ah, Uzumaki-san, you surprise me with your knowledge of Konoha custom. Please rise, my name is Nashi Hyuuga" stated the man kindly. Naruto liked him immediately.

"Nashi will be helping me perform some of the seals that I'm putting on you today, so let's go to the armory and get set up so we can talk a bit Naruto" said Jiraiya, leading the boy and the Hyuuga to the armory room. Once there, Jiraiya asked Naruto to get a few of the components that he needed to mix the ink, which got Naruto out of the room for a minute.

"That's the Jinchuuriki? I didn't sense anything wrong with his chakra, and it seems almost as if the Kyuubi's chakra is mixing with his own" said the Hyuuga in a surprised yet calm tone.

"That's what I noticed too, what I need is your help with a seal that I'm going to put on him which will filter out the Kyuubi's influence. I'm also thinking that a pressure seal and storage seals will be a great asset to him" whispered Jiraiya, saying the second sentence in a normal tone because Naruto had just walked into the room with the ingredients for the ink.

"Set it over there, Naruto and sit down, there's some things we need to talk about" ordered Jiraiya solemnly. Naruto set down his things and sat down.

"Naruto… you trust me, right?" queried the white haired Sannin.

"Of course, Jiraiya-sensei" replied Naruto, wondering where this was going.

"Well… have you noticed anything peculiar when you mold chakra?" he asked the blonde.

"There's a seal on my stomach, is that what you're talking about?" said the Naruto, already suspecting the answer.

"Good, well Naruto, remember how I told you that I would tell you who your father is? It's time I did that. About 6 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha after being unsealed from a woman named Kushina Uzumaki during childbirth. The enraged beast attacked the village, killing hundreds, until the 4th Hokage managed to get it out of the village. Once there he used a forbidden technique to seal the beast inside his newborn son. He named this son Naruto and wanted him to be considered a hero. The 4th Hokage's name is Minato Namikaze and was your father" explained Jiraiya to his stricken protégé, who had a look of pure confusion and hurt as he mulled over the idea of his own father sealing the demon inside of him. Suddenly tears began to fall from the young boy's eyes as he realized the meaning behind all of the names and looks of hatred he had received from the villagers. Naruto's expression changed to include fear as he thought that this meant the Jiraiya too would hate him and send him away.

"However, Naruto, the 4th was a sealing master. He knew that this seal, having been put on his own wife, would not make the container a demon in anyway. He also modified it so that you would be able to absorb the beast's chakra and have it be part of your own. I don't think you're the demon, Naruto" said the toad sage to his student, watching the boy's face change to one of shock, happiness, and what appeared to be the beginning of acceptance in the cerulean eyes. Naruto smiled slightly and jumped up to hug the toad sage, burying his face into the man's cloak.

"Now, let's get this show on the road" said Jiraiya, grabbing the ingredients and his medium scroll.

**(2 hours later)**

"Ok, we're done" breathed Jiraiya, studying his handiwork. He had decided to incorporate seals into Naruto's training because he seemed to have a knack for calligraphy, a creative mind, and patience, all of which are the key to becoming a seal master. The young blonde now had the kanji for weight and gravity in the center of his back with a design running out towards his shoulders and spiraling down his arms, ending on the top of his wrist. He had planned to add storage seals to it but voted against it, instead leaving it up to Naruto if he wanted to include those in his fighting style in later years. The seal on his stomach now had 2 matching wavy lines coming out of the gaps in the circle of the original seal before also having a design that bled off in 4 lines, wrapping around his waist and coming to the end of his spine.

"The seals look perfect from what I can tell, Jiraiya-dono" observed Nashi, who had helped design and plan the weight seals so that they could be activated and deactivated by Naruto at will. He had found the boy had an infectious happiness about him, which the middle aged man found refreshing compared to the formality and stiffness of the Hyuuga clan. He had promised to visit regularly when Jiraiya was away to help with his training.

"I agree, they should help make Naruto into an able ninja in no time. I plan to start his Taijutsu tomorrow if you'd like to visit and give pointers since the style I've chosen to teach him has its roots in the Juuken style of the Hyuuga" Jiraiya said to Nashi. He was glad that Nashi had offered to tutor Naruto, since Jiraiya knew he wouldn't always be there to help Naruto through the stances and forms of the Namiken (Wave Fist, which I found to be much more suitable a name), among other things.

"I'll see if I can make it, Jiraiya, but I must get back to the compound. The heiress Hinata is visiting soon and I want to make sure everything is ready for her arrival" explain Nashi before he shunshined away in a swirl of leaves.

**(the next day, outside, about 2 P.M.)**

Nashi Hyuuga, a man of his word, was watching Naruto be drilled in the aspects of his new style. The white eyed ninja agreed with Jiraiya's assurance that the style suited the young boy's natural balance, fluidity, and strength. The styles purpose is to redirect hits, flow under guards, strike, then recede much like a wave does as it breaks over the shore and after only a little bit of tutelage and a few pointers by Nashi Naruto was able to begin learning it with relative ease.

"Okay Naruto, try it again" repeated Jiraiya, watching as Naruto took a step forward, dipped under an imaginary punch, spun 90 degrees and hit a designated point on his pseudo foe with a backhand, before further spinning around the circle drawn in the ground, ducking and sidestepping punches and kicks until he ended up in the same spot.

"Good, this variant of Namiken is known as Araumi (Riptide), the purpose being to circle your opponent and strike at his weak points whilst tiring and confusing him with constant direction changes and stops" explained Jiraiya to his protégé, knowing that this style was perfect for him.

(I hope this is enough explanation for everyone you'll get plenty more examples as the story progresses.)

**(2 months later, on the road between Jiraiya's house and the village)**

"Jiraiya-dono, why are we going to Onsenmura (Hot Springs Village)?" complained Naruto, who had to make the trek with his gravity seals set to three. He was used to this weight but hated it all the same.

"We need to get a few things to help you with your training" explain Jiraiya, who had heard this complaint before. They made many trips into to town for supplies as well as formal tea with Nashi to get Naruto used to the setting and customs of such things. The sage looked over at his student, who had undergone a lot of changes in the past 2 months. His clothes were a sleeveless, form-fitting, black shirt with orange border and his typical black sweatpants. His equipment consisted of a hip pouch on an orange belt and a shuriken holster just above the knee on both legs. The seals on his arms had changed too, his left wrist having the kanji for Spring and his right forearm having the kanji for armament flowing smoothly through the marks already there from his gravity seals. His significant change however was the growing muscle tone and his posture which, despite the weight, belied a grace that was above the norm.

Jiraiya smiled to himself as he remembered how easily Naruto had taken to his training in general once he got over the beginning speed bumps. His chakra control was already very good for the amount of training he had, and his aim and skill with his taijutsu and weapons were near prodigal. The Sannin was also proud of the kid's progress in his calligraphy, Fuuinjutsu, herb lore and medicine, traps, and Ninjutsu. His talent was his quick mind that acted as an insatiable sponge when it came to memorization of facts and motions. Naruto had an affinity for wind and water, which complimented his style perfectly, and with his chakra control being where it was Jiraiya had taught him a few jutsu.

Naruto looked ahead as he walked, having his hands linked behind his head and a content expression upon his face; the position was a habit for the boy, and his expression the result in the drastic change in direction his life had taken. The boy was living a good life: plenty to eat, plenty to do, and a good education. His trips into the village were spent interacting with a lot of people older than he was, which to him wasn't very fun. As he was walking, Naruto grinned whenever the wind blew or a bird chirped, displaying an underlying love for nature.

They reached the village in decent time and made their way to the local Ninja supply shop that was near the herb shop that Naruto liked to frequent when he was here. Upon entering the store the owner, Tatsume, greeted them and waved them over.

"I have your order, Jiraiya-sama" the owner said, handing said ninja a small scroll "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Jiraiya looked at his student, who was observing the considerable inventory of the store with an appraising eye, and smiled to himself.

"Hey, Naruto, how about we get a weapon for you?" the toad sage offered. The Jinchuuriki's face lit up as he looked at his teacher.

"I would greatly appreciate that sensei" Naruto said, knowing what weapon he would prefer to have. He had often thought about a weapon to compliment his Taijutsu.

"Can we get a single tonfa, please?" Naruto said to the owner, ignoring his teacher's look curiosity at the request.

"Why only one, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, knowing that the weapon was usually used in pairs.

"Well, it would compliment my Spring seal and work well with my armament seal (wait until later for what those do ;)). Also, in my opinion it would work well with Araumi while leaving a hand free for shuriken, hand seals, and the deflection patterns of Namiken" Naruto explained to his teacher.

"Well, you're better at the style than I am, so I'll take your word for it" Jiraiya relented as he paid for the tonfa. Naruto had taken the style into his own hands and after only a couple of weeks, with Jiraiya as the sparring partner, the boy had fast become better than the older ninja at the style as it wasn't Jiraiya's main choice to fight with. The toad sage could still stomp the floor with the boy if he wanted though.

After they perused the other inventory for any new additions the duo moved to the herb shop for Naruto to get a few things for some medicine recipes he was learning, yet another area that he was becoming better than Jiraiya in since he didn't bother really delving into those arts.

**(4 months later, outside of Jiraiya's house)**

"Very good, you're becoming quite adept at this style" Nashi praised, as the two ended their brief spar. Naruto had wanted a different, more mobile opponent to test a few things he had thought up. Nashi's face broke into a smile as soon as the blonde's did and the two laughed good-naturedly. Nashi had defeated the blonde easily because he had been requested not to hold back, though he hadn't failed to notice that the boy's movements were smooth, precise, and steady. He could definitely notice the similarities to his own style.

"Thank you, Nashi-dono, you confirmed my suspicions that my style had some significant holes in speed. I also notice that it's ill-suited against the Juuken, something I'm going to rectify if you'll indulge me during my training" Naruto said as he rubbed a few of the spots that Nashi had hit pretty hard. If he had been hit with Nashi using chakra he would have easily died with the precise, needle-like hits that the Hyuuga used.

"You know that I'll help whenever I can, Naruto-kun. I noticed that you seem to lose a lot of your momentum when you straighten your elbow, or when you miss your target. One must not lose focus in battle, you can't slow down or falter just because you miss. That's a mantra of the Juuken style. If you miss, hit again. Faster" said the Hyuuga, pointing out the major flaws that he had noticed in Naruto's style.

The 2 ninja turned to look at the house as the door opened and Jiraiya waved them in with a serious expression on his face. Naruto was concerned as he walked inside with Nashi, wondering what the problem could be. His worries were dashed though as a streamer flew over his head and he remembered the date. October tenth had come a lot faster than the boy could have predicted.

"Happy birthday, Naruto!" sang Jiraiya as he brought over a small cake with 7 candles in it. The blonde couldn't help but smile as the 2 older ninja sang a gruesome birthday song and told him to make a wish. Thinking for a moment before smiling, the boy blew out the candles and kicked off a pleasant day of cake eating, story trading, and bad jokes. Nashi pulled out 3 small packages and handed them to Naruto.

"What are these?" he asked, hefting the biggest one.

"Open them, gaki" said Jiraiya, who was waiting to offer up his own presents. Naruto grinned and tore into the first package. It was a deck of chakra cards for storing information.

"I figured those would be good for your herbs, since you seem so keen on studying so many of them. They're activated and used through chakra, and can only be activated by the person that first exposes chakra to them" explained the Hyuuga, watching the boy's face light up. Naruto might be mature but on the inside he was still a seven year old boy.

The next package was a book on medicine, and the last was a standard Konoha bingo book. Once Naruto was done gawking over the gifts, Jiraiya handed his own 4 gifts over to Naruto. The first was a framed photo of Minato and Kushina, the 2nd was an instruction of some of the higher tiers of Namiken. The 3rd was a set of 3 blank scrolls which Naruto loved since Jiraiya would not let him write anything permanent in his training set. His final gift was the biggest and was the scroll that Jiraiya usually had on his back. Naruto understood what this meant and smiled at Jiraiya who nodded at the blonde. The smile turned into a grin as the boy bit his thumb and signed his name next to his father's in the summoning contract.

**(5 months and 2 weeks later, in the northern part of the forest of Konoha)**

"I see the target" Naruto whispered in his radio. He watched as the target looked to be yelling at the surrounding people, which a knife pressed against a young girl's neck. It was hard to hear over the cacophony of the waterfall nearby.

"How many?" asked the disembodied voice of Jiraiya. The two were on a C-rank mission in the Land of Fire, responding to a hostage situation involving a village chief's daughter. Jiraiya was letting Naruto do most of the mission, opting to stay back and observe in their missions, choosing to only intervene when necessary.

"2, other than the target. One on the roof with a bow, and another brandishing a sword at the crowd" observed the blonde, a plan already forming in his mind. He snuck closer and slipped around the back of the building with the archer. He climbed slowly, making sure he wasn't heard, and peeked over the edge. He dropped back down and used the ram seal to Henge into the archer. He picked up a rock and tossed it up before climbing the building again. The archer, who had heard the sound and went to go look didn't last long as the blonde knocked him out and took his bow and arrows. Naruto made sure that the archer was tied up and in the alleyway before he took the same position the archer had had and waited for a good moment to strike.

The target was obviously a no-name thug, since most of his demands were shouted and involved money. His partner also didn't have the right grip, which meant he wasn't very skilled with the sword. Naruto had to patiently wait for his shot because at this angle he would hit the girl. If the stupid mayor hadn't asked Naruto to refrain from using his ninja tools so as not to let the townspeople know he was garnering the help of ninjas the blonde could have taken out all 3 with some accurate throws. Instead, when the opportunity presented itself, he would dispose of the 2 with the arrows.

"Now" came the order from Jiraiya. Naruto didn't need it though, he had seen the moment and already had an arrow in flight, drawing another one and sending it at the sword holder, killing them both.

"Mission accomplished" said the blonde as he turned and dropped the Henge before hopping from building to building to meet up with Jiraiya who would have the payment. Naruto didn't enjoy killing, but he had learned in his past 6 missions that it was a necessary evil in some situations.

A/N: There it is chapter 4. I think this is my best yet, and I know the time skipping frustrates some people but as I said before if I explain everything then people will hate reading it. Overall I think I did good with this chapter, but I want your opinions in the form of reviews! The Spring and armament seals will be shown off in the next chapter as Naruto gets more training and more missions. The next chapter will be very fast since it will skip ahead to his 2nd year and progress pretty quickly ahead and ending with him seeing Konoha in the distance. So yeah, it'll be awesome ^_^

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Chapter 5! This is where the story really gets interesting because I'll be bringing in yet more characters, though only a few of them will be OC's. I don't plan on focusing nearly as much on the training anymore, since I laid the ground work of it down in the last chapter, this is more of a chronological chain of important events that happened in the rest of his time. Anyways, I hope you like it and I hope you leave me some reviews ^_^

By the way, I'm switching up the way I do dialogue because I noticed how I seemed to have this OCD about putting how someone says something. SO if the situation calls for it I will just have the words that are spoken, and make the speaker obvious.

Chapter 5:

**(last chapter, in the forest of Konoha)**

"Mission accomplished" said the blonde as he turned and dropped the Henge before hopping from building to building to meet up with Jiraiya who would have the payment. Naruto didn't enjoy killing, but he had learned in his past 6 missions that it was a necessary evil in some situations.

**(1 year later, on the trail to Onsenmura)**

Naruto Uzumaki walked along the trail at a leisurely pace, fingers locked together behind his head, staring at the sky. He was on his way to Onsenmura to pick up an order of herbs that he needed to complete an antidote to the poison he was working on. His white sleeveless shirt covered black mesh armor, with the armor having sleeves that came halfway down his bicep. The blonde's arms had what appeared to be intersecting tattoos down them, the left only having 2 strips of symbols spiraling down his arm with a kanji for Spring on his wrist. The right arm had the same 2 strips, but only someone really paying attention could notice because the 2 bands blended in with the much more prominent band that seemed to bleed from the kanji for armament. The ease with which the seemingly innocent boy moved showed with each step as the motions were congruous, making it seem like he was gliding.

Naruto stretched and smiled as a breeze rolled by.

"Ahhh, I love it out here. Nice breeze, warm sun, clear sky. This day is good" he said to himself as he made his way into the village. It only took him 30 minutes to get the herbs he needed. The blonde stopped by the post office there to drop off his latest letter to Hiruzen. He had started sending him letters a few months ago and eventually it became a regular thing. They both missed each other, and Sarutobi was very interested and proud of the young boy's growth.

Walking into a restaurant that served ramen, the boy greeted the owner and ordered his usual bowl of miso pork ramen. He only indulged in his love for ramen when he had the money and time, but never regretted spending more than he planned when he got to his fifth or sixth bowl. The only noise in the establishment was Naruto's as he slurped down the noodles. Happily full, the blonde paid and walked out, not quite ready to walk back. He turned a corner to cut through an alleyway and noticed a small group of kids at the end, surrounding something.

"…ather doesn't even want you, you're disgracing our clan" he heard one boy, obviously the leader, say to a girl about his age that was in the middle of the group crouching on the ground and crying. She was wearing the typical jacket that most Hyuuga children wore, and her hair was in a short cut with 2 bangs framing her face. The part that sent a pang through his heart was the expression of the lavender-tinted eyes that were filled with tears. He had remembered an expression just like that on his own face when people would bully him.

"Yeah, Hin…" said another boy, not quite finishing because someone had just shoved him out of the way.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked the girl, leaning down next to her to see her face. At this distance and angle he saw something he hadn't seen before, a bruise forming on her cheek. When the Jinchuuriki saw this he held out his hand for the girl, who looked up at him for the first time. As lavender met blue, Naruto saw that even though she was crying she had a strong spirit. The girl reached up and took his hand to help herself up.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, kid?" asked the leader, who was about 13.

"I'm helping this girl up, of course" said the blonde in a matter-of-fact tone and with a sincere smile.

"Who said you could? Do we need to beat you up too?" he challenged before springing forward to take advantage of Naruto only having one hand free. The punch was easily redirected by Naruto though, who simply walked past him.

"Don't get in over your head" Naruto said as he led the girl away, he didn't make it very far before the leader got the help of 2 of his buddies who activated their Byakugan and were ready to fight. Naruto looked at the girl and smiled reassuringly after she nodded before letting go of her hand and turning to face the attackers. The blonde knew he could take them, but he didn't want to hurt them. He redirected 2 blows and smacked the inside of one follower's elbow lightly with chakra, shutting down his arm and with a simple kick to the inside of the same kid's knee he sent him to the ground. The other follower was better, and with the help of the leader pushed Naruto back a step as they worked together, though all of their hits were blocked. Seeing no alternative, Naruto grabbed the arm of the follower and pulled it forward to block the leader's attack before using the arm to smack the leader in the nose. He let go of the kid's arm and pushed him away as he met the leader's fervent attacks head-on. The leader, who was acting in frustration, steadily tried harder and harder to hit the blonde, who just moved away his hands without hitting back. The blonde, after a really close call, sighed to himself before punching the older boy in the stomach and bringing his knee up to meet the kid's descending face. He had no choice, the leader had been going for kill shots.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't trying to hurt them" he said as he turned to the girl, but the girl was gone.

"Hmm… I wonder where she went." Naruto pondered as he walked out of the alleyway. He saw the girl across the street in another alleyway, crying again. He walked over and sat next to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect them to attack me" Naruto said as he looked at the girl. He noticed that she was really pretty, and preferred her eye color over the typical white of most Hyuuga. The girl, who hadn't noticed Naruto sit down, gasped.

"W-why did you help me? You could have been hurt" she said as she regained her composure.

"I could have, but wasn't. The question is why were they bullying you?"

"It was because of my father… who are you?" she asked the blonde, wondering why she was opening up to a stranger.

"Naruto Uzumaki, and who are you?" he asked.

"Hinata Hyuuga" she replied, wondering if he knew who she was. He didn't seem to at first, but after a split second recognition dawned in his eyes as he stood up rapidly and bowed.

"I am sorry, Hyuuga-dono, I didn't realize that it was you" he said, hoping she wouldn't be mad because of his break in custom. Since his head was down he didn't notice the sad look she had that was quickly buried.

"It's not a problem, you can rise. You don't need to bow to me" she said solemnly.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect to meet the heiress out here on the streets" he explained shyly.

"I'm not the heiress at the moment… that was why those boys were bullying me" she said, deciding that her savior deserved an explanation. Her sad smile was a good compliment to the look of puzzlement on Naruto's face.

"Not the heiress? Forgive me, but I remember reading about the Hyuuga affair with Kumo and it clearly said that you were the heir" the blonde said, wondering if his memory failed him.

"I was the heiress until this morning, when my father gave the title to my little sister after she beat me in a duel again" explained Hinata, remembering the fight.

"So that's where you got the bruise… but that seems like a stupid reason to lose your inheritance" Naruto said, offering his hand to her again which she took to get up. The pair walked down the street, having reached the same conclusion that sitting in an alleyway wasn't very fitting for conversation.

"I've never been able to beat my sister in a duel, by the time she reached the age necessary to participate she had already surpassed me in the Juuken style"

"Well… still stupid, in my opinion. Your sister probably has a sturdier build than you, I'm guessing?" inquired the blonde as he looked at Hinata.

"Well, yes, but… how did you know?" Hinata asked.

"The Juuken style was created to be fast, precise, and strong so someone of a sturdier build would have a better chance of being good at the traditional forms taught to the main branch. Or at least, that's what I've noticed. Your build would probably be more suited to the freer flowing forms of the less traditional styles" he explained shyly, not ignorant of the slight compliment he had given Hinata.

"Oh… how do you know of my clan's traditions?" she said with a blush, not missing the compliment either.

"I train with a Hyuuga often, and study the history and customs of everything about Konoha. I have to if I'm going to become Hokage someday" he said with a smile.

"Ah… well I must be going now, thank you Naruto-san" Hinata said before she walked away with a wave. She was in a much better mood now thanks to Naruto. This was going to be the last time that her family would be staying here in Onsenmura, but she would remember meeting Naruto.

'I hope you do become Hokage one day, Naruto' she said in her mind as she walked into the Hyuuga compound.

**(3 months later, at Jiraiya's house)**

Nashi struck twice, was blocked both times, and delivered a kick which knocked Naruto to the ground and ending the spar. The boy was making improvements, and had even managed to land a minor hit on the Hyuuga, but the difference in speed and experience was too much even for the prodigal Naruto.

"You're getting better Naruto"

"Thank you Nashi-sensei" Naruto said as he picked himself off of the ground. He had decided to spend his days without Jiraiya working on Ninjutsu, working on his Taijutsu, or perfecting his Fuuinjutsu. His growth, which had seemed like it was so fast, had begun to slow down since each of his subjects were getting progressively harder. Despite this, Jiraiya still assured him that his progress was phenomenal.

"Hey, Nashi… I've been meaning to ask you something, but you haven't been around for almost 3 months. Why did Hiashi-dono rename his heir?"

"That's… that's a tough subject… how did you hear about it?"

"I uh… heard some kids in town talking about it" he replied hesitantly, not wanting to get Hinata in trouble. He hadn't seen her since that day but wondered how she was occasionally when he went into town.

"Hiashi-dono felt that his 2nd daughter, being stronger and more talented, deserved the title more"

"It just seems unfair…"

"Then it will be yet another thing that you can help change when you are Hokage, you shouldn't worry about the affairs of others too much Naruto. Focus on your training for now and become strong enough that you can manage your own affairs as well as others."

"Okay, Nashi-sama. Can you help me with this jutsu I've been practicing? I think I've got it down but it seems like something isn't right" Naruto asked, moving on from the subject.

**(2 months later, in the forest of Konoha)**

'This is suicide, complete and utter suicide' the boy thought to himself as he looked down the cliff. His chakra control had finally gotten to the point that he could walk on water steadily but this was something else. Naruto could find no point in having to climb down this cliff face with only his hands. It didn't help that it was raining either. The toad sage had left no room for argument in this, saying that he wanted to teach Naruto something awesome but that he needed the control for it.

But the blonde felt that this was just a little bit over the top, as his hand slipped when the part of the cliff he had been holding onto had broken off. Sighing inwardly, Naruto focused his efforts and after about an hour made it down to the bottom of the cliff. He was glad that Jiraiya had made him leave his equipment behind to lessen the weight.

'Speak of the devil' the boy mused as Jiraiya showed up holding a scroll in his hand.

"Way to go Naruto, now, I've decided to incorporate a survival test into this. You are to wait here for an entire month, completing this exercise every day, and working on whatever it is you deem necessary. Most of the supplies you'll need are right here" Jiraiya said cheekily as he tossed the scroll at his student.

"A m-month? You can't be serious sensei. I have training planned with Nashi, I have to get my orders, I.." but he was cut off before he could finished by Jiraiya holding up a hand.

"This is a ninja lifestyle, sometimes you get stranded behind enemy lines or have to wait for further orders from your village. Deal with it."

And with that he left the boy to his training. Naruto sighed and looked at the scroll. With a bite on his thumb and a swipe of his blood, the boy groaned as he looked at his equipment. He had a single kunai, a single shuriken, a fishing pole, and a change of clothes.

'Stupid pervert and his stupid training ideas. How the hell am I supposed to last a whole month without some more suppli…" his thought trailed off as he noticed the weakness of his thoughts. A ninja didn't need equipment to get his job done, he had all that he needed in his head, and the rest in his hands. He had a knife, he could fashion some shelter. He had his hands to make a fire and get some food. He had a brain which could help him do all of it. Naruto chuckled as he realized this was to fix a few errors in Naruto's thinking. Equipment is fine and dandy but you shouldn't rely on it. Mind made up and kunai in hand, the boy went to find a suitable spot to camp.

**(4 months later, in the armory)**

Naruto finished engraving the seals into his new tonfa. He had trained in the use of the weapon, but had never really got a chance to mix it into his style. His first attempt to do so had broken the weapon when Jiraiya had kicked it out of his hand during one of their spars. His first one had had seals as well, but only so that it could be stored in his armament seal. His new weapon was black wood, with silver colored engravings that helped strengthen and balance the weapon. The shorter end of the weapon had the same Spring kanji that his wrist had, an idea that Jiraiya had brought up.

"Are you ready yet, gaki?" said the impatient Jiraiya, who was ready to get the spar started.

"Yes, Jiraiya-sensei, but can we move this outside? I want the extra room to really see what I can do" asked the boy, eager for this month's test. Jiraiya had started last month with a test to see how well his training was coming along. The test was destroying Jiraiya's mud clone, which would take 3 solid hits. Last month Naruto hadn't even been able to graze it, but he had high hopes.

The two made their way outside and Jiraiya made the hand seals to bring up his clone. Naruto took this time to calm himself and get ready to see how well his training was paying off. The real Jiraiya took a step back and watched his protégé intently.

Naruto didn't wait for a signal, charging in and ducking the expected kick and punching at the clone who responded by grabbing his hand and punching the blonde back, scoring a hit. Naruto recovered quickly and twisted his caught hand to grab onto his opponent's wrist to use as leverage to launch his jumping spin kick which was also caught. The blonde twisted again to bring his free leg down in an axe kick, prompting the clone to compensate and block with his forearm (sound like a familiar attack routine? ;3). Suddenly, the Jinchuuriki thrust his left hand forward and focused chakra on his Spring kanji, which shot a kunai out of his palm (it doesn't actually come out of his skin, just gets shot out of his palm area). The clone, who had seen this tactic last month tilted his head just enough to avoid it but not enough to dodge the fist that soon followed. Jiraiya smirked at his student's plan, knowing it was just his subtle way of telling Jiraiya not to underestimate his student. The fight soon ended with the punch being the only hit scored by the blonde, and many bruises showing the evidence of the clone's attacks.

**(9 months later, outside of Jiraiya's house)**

"Let's run through them again, Naruto" said Jiraiya. He had decided that Naruto's Taijutsu was up to par when he had managed to deal 3 blows to the clone 2 months ago, albeit by careful planning, and decided to work more on his Ninjutsu. His Fuuinjutsu was coming along nicely as well. Naruto sighed and ran through the seals of each jutsu, saying the name as he used them.

"Suiton: Hayase no jutsu (Rapids Jutsu)" which emitted a fine cutting stream of water from his fingertip.

"Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba no Jutsu (Blade of wind jutsu)" which, after a slashing motion with his hand, sent a fine line of wind cutting into a tree.

"Fuuton: Repuushou (Violent Wave Palm jutsu)" upon which the blonde clapped his hands together and released a concentrated blast of wind.

"Fuuton: Kamikaze (Divine wind)" which sent several small tornadoes ahead.

"Katon: Hibashiri (Running Fire)" that Naruto aimed at the tornadoes, causing them to burst into fire for a short second, then fade out. It was more for the surprise factor than a practical attack, as the heat wave that came off the concentrated air was hot and bright.

"That should be enough, good job Naruto. Your Ninjutsu is coming along nicely. Today we're going to work on Doton: Chikyuu Doumu which is a great defense against many jutsu. The seals are…"

**(16 months later, inside Jiraiya's house)**

Naruto sighed as he used the special blend of ink to inscribe the words for health into the crook of his left arm. Jiraiya had been gone on a very long goose chase for Orochimaru for 3 months, putting Naruto's training in a rut. Jiraiya left him plenty of books on Konoha, Hi no Kuni (land of fire), the major clans, medicine, sealing, and other things but those didn't occupy his time. He needed to do stuff. So to take advantage of his time he had taken to inscribing his arms from shoulder to wrist in various seals. His most recent being a place to store medical supplies. He had his armament seal for his tonfa, his Spring seal to shoot kunai though only 5 could be kept in it at most, and the seals for knife on each of his biceps would teleport a kunai to it after he had thrown the kunai thanks to a seal he had on the hilt. He was thinking of more to add when Jiraiya burst into the room suddenly, extremely mad.

"Fucker… he slipped right out of my fingers! I HAD HIM! I. Had. Him." Jiraiya seethed as he stomped into the room and started pulling weapons down from the wall and putting them in a scroll. He ignored the blonde completely as he did the same to all of the sealing supplies in front of Naruto.

"Jiraiya-sensei? Why are you packing?" Naruto asked as the toad sage sealed the last of the important supplies away.

"We're leaving. I was too close to let this chance slip, and Orochimaru might have sent someone to follow me. We'll continue your training on your road now get your stuff…"

**(1 month later, on the road)**

"Here, take this water balloon and try and spin the water in it without popping it" Jiraiya said, as he took a bite out of his ration and read the book in his hand. Naruto grunted as he tried the same exercise that he had been working on for the past 2 days. The jutsu that Jiraiya had showed him would be well worth it though.

**(Present time, 1 mile out of Konoha)**

"I'm finally back…after 6 years of training I'm finally home…"Naruto said to himself, pushing the thoughts of the past away as he looked over the village from a nearby hilltop. Adjusting the large scroll he had on his back the now 12 year old boy walked toward the home that had occupied his thoughts for 6 years.

A/N: I know the ending was kind of short but I did warn you. I didn't feel the need to drag this chapter on too much with descriptions of missions, and for those who had been waiting for it Hinata did make an appearance. ^_^. I hope you all liked the chapter and give me some feedback in the form of reviews. I want to know if I need to change anything, if you have any cool ideas for jutsus, cool ideas for some seals, and other things. Anyways, until next time.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Another chapter in the story. I have to admit that, after reading Naruto My Way again as well as the back-ups of Naruto Revised, Prodigy, and Elemental I've realized that the quality of my writing has improved immensely. My sentence structure is better, my descriptions are better, and I hate to say it but my imagination had gotten better as well. This story is just … better. Which is why I keep asking for reviews! I notice that it's better but I want to know if you, the reader, think that this story is good! I am fueled by reviews! I've stayed up until dawn writing and proofreading a chapter before for this story, so show me how much my work has paid off with a "good job" comment or something?

Anyways, story time.

**(Present time, 1 mile out of Konoha)**

"I'm finally back…after 6 years of training I'm finally home…"Naruto said to himself, pushing the thoughts of the past away as he looked over the village from a nearby hilltop. Adjusting the large scroll he had on his back the now 12 year old boy walked toward the home that had occupied his thoughts for 6 years.

**(1 hour later, in the Hokage's office)**

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked out the window as he took a long draw on his pipe. Blowing the smoke out, he sighed deeply. There aren't many days like this, with a beautiful clear sky, and the old leader didn't even have the freedom or the time to enjoy it. The Hokage position was a full time job, and frankly he shouldn't even be taking a smoke break. Another sigh escaped his lips as he got up and opened his window to let some fresh air in before he sat down to do his work. That was his plan at least, until he felt his hat fly off his head only to look up and see a blonde preteen wearing it.

"Glad to see you didn't smudge it, Hokage-sama" Naruto said cheekily through the traditional flaps of the Hokage hat. He took it off and tossed it at Hiruzen before following it up with his body in a powerful hug. Sarutobi smiled, he had missed the boy too and had forgotten that it was today that he was supposed to come back. The Hokage had lost contact with Naruto when Jiraiya dragged the boy away from their training ground after the failed attempt to capture Orochimaru. The two ninja broke apart and Sarutobi motioned for him to sit down.

"I had forgotten that it was today that you planned to come back. I'm glad to see that Jiraiya didn't hold you up. Did you manage to find Orochimaru?"

"No, but Jiraiya had a pretty solid lead before I left, so he might be getting close"

"I see, I see… that's good. So your training is all done?"

"Unfortunately not, and it never will be. I won't rest until I'm the strongest, you know that. But Jiraiya said he got all the foundations laid out for me to 'grow into something special' as he put it" Naruto said, using air quotes.

"I'm glad, and glad that you're back. I see that the trip did wonders for your manners"

"But the time didn't do anything wonderful to those liver spots, is that hair I see?" Naruto joked, laughing at Sarutobi's offended expression.

"I'm kidding, Hokage-dono. I learned to mind my manners but that doesn't mean I'm not the stupid little kid that would get into trouble that was way over his head. I can just do it in a flashier manner"

"You're a wiseass, just like your father"

"Of course, though it might be the hair. Am I all set to move into my dad's estate?"

"It's been cleaned up a bit, and all the paperwork is through. The test is tomorrow so do not forget. 8 A.M. sharp."

"I won't, Jii-san. And thank you for all of this" Naruto said sincerely as he shook Hiruzen's hand. He was glad that he had kept in contact with the Hokage so that he could be informed of his inheritance. The young Uzumaki had just inherited a small estate on the far end of Konohagakure and was primed to move in. He wanted to get it done and see his village, it had been so long he didn't know if he remembered all the twists and turns. As he stepped out of the tower the blonde took a deep breath and smiled. It was a very nice day and he was glad that he had the freedom and time to enjoy it.

**(10 minutes later, east side of Konohagakure)**

The house was pretty spacious with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a separate building that was a dojo. Naruto grinned as he unloaded his weapons into the dojo's storage room, though disappointed that the wall didn't have quite the spread that Jiraiya's had, that would need to be fixed soon, and moved his futon and other odds and ends into the master bedroom. He would certainly need to get some furniture for his house in the meantime. Once he was done unpacking, Naruto stretched lackadaisically (favorite word) before stepping outside and locking his door. He took another deep breath and decided that he needed some food to celebrate his homecoming, and he knew just the thing. He would set out and find a ramen shop. With the thought of God's broth in his mind, Naruto walked down the streets. He had his hands behind his head as had become the habit of the young blonde. Browsing over the various shops, Naruto noticed one thing in particular. It seemed like no one remembered him. Not a soul seemed to equate him to the 6 year old demon child that had disappeared 6 years ago. Naruto smiled at this thought, and thought about the chances this could bring to have a fresh start getting people to accept him. These thoughts followed him into the establishment of the first ramen shop he came to, a place named Ichiraku's Ramen.

Teuchi, who owned the shop smiled as his first customer of the day sat down at the bar. It was a new face, but that didn't matter. Money was money. And apparently it was no object to the young kid as he ordered a bowl of miso pork ramen with the comment to keep them coming.

Naruto looked down at the flawlessly prepared ramen. The noodles looked properly cooked, the ingredients were where they should be, and the smell was fantastic.

"Itadakimasu" he said proudly as he snapped the chopsticks and took a bite.

"Oh… Oh wow… this is amazing" Naruto said, before promptly slurping up the noodles at an ungodly rate. Teuchi stared wide-eyed as the boy devoured the next bowl he made, as well as the next 9 bowls. This set a new record for the store, beating the old one by 3 bowls. The owner just shook his head.

"What's your name kid?" he asked, and once he heard it he took out a slip of paper and wrote down Naruto's name and number of bowls before replacing the slip already up on the wall.

"Congratulations, you beat the old record uh… Naruto" Ayame said, looking at the sign to read his name. Naruto just grinned and stood up, grabbing more than a few bills and handing them off before waving and leaving the shop that had served him such amazing ramen and promising himself to visit often. One good thing about not having Jiraiya over his shoulder would be the amount of ramen that he could eat as the toad sage had always made it more of a treat meal rather than a regular thing.

The blonde walked down the street with a smile on his face, having eaten his fill. He wanted to find the academy before he went to his house, so that he wouldn't be lost tomorrow. Naruto turned the corner of the next street and found it. It was pretty hard to miss, since it had a track and a small field exclusively for it. He would definitely be able to find it again later. Since it had been easy to find, Naruto decided to walk around Konoha for a few hours before going to his home and sleeping. That trip had been a pretty rough walk, since they had been in Iwa, dodging patrols and avoiding most towns at the time.

**(Next day, 7:20 A.M., at the Namikaze estate)**

Naruto smiled as he put on his clothes. Today was the day. He would get to take the test today and become a Genin. It was his first official step on the path to becoming Hokage. Slipping on the black chain necklace he had gotten from one of his birthdays, Naruto left his house and locked up before stretching. The day was pretty cloudy but still beautiful. He put his hands behind his head and started walking, getting lost in thought as he made his way to the Academy.

**(7:55, in the classroom of Iruka Umino)**

"We're going to be having a new student take the test with us this year. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He used to live here but got taken into an apprenticeship with an instructor. I expect everyone in the class to be nice to him" Iruka said to his class, who was only half paying attention. He sighed just as the classroom door slid open, which got the attention of the class. Naruto stepped in and smiled shyly.

"Uhhh, is this classroom 3? I'm supposed to be taking the graduation test today" he said sheepishly, hoping he got it right. Iruka and the class were shocked into silence though as they looked at the blonde. The boy was wearing white, sleeve-less, unzipped flak jacket with hood and seals on the bottom border with a black undershirt that had an orange fox on it, over mesh armor that had sleeves going halfway down his bicep as well as a black chain necklace around his neck. He also had white cargo sweat pants with a shuriken holster on each side, black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back, and bright blonde hair. His really distinguishing feature was the tattoos coving his arms. He had the kanji for Spring on his left wrist, armament on his right forearm, and knife on each bicep as well as what looked like a sleeve tattoo all the way up both arms made of odd symbols. Iruka recovered from the shock first.

"Yes, this is the classroom. You must be Naruto, please take a seat." He said, watching as the boy strolled in and sat at the only free desk next to Chouji and Kiba. Naruto noticed the looks that were being shot at him. Most of the guys seemed to be sizing him up, seeing if he was a threat whereas a lot of the girls seemed to be checking him out. The blonde's eyes scanned the room as he sat down, widening a fraction as they met familiar lavender eyes for the second time in his life. He looked at Hinata for a second before realizing who it was and waving, turning back around in his seat to face the front as Iruka cleared his throat, which caused him to miss some of the glares that the girls sent Hinata for knowing the new cutie. Hinata blushed and shrank in her seat. She had not been expecting to see Naruto again, least of all in her classroom.

"Okay, class, this test is a 2 part test, a written and a physical exam. I will now pass out the written part of the exam. Please stay quiet and don't look at other people's papers."

Naruto eyed the questions on his paper and sighed, written exams were unfair as there was no way to plan out EVERYTHING nor to react to how other factors might intervene. Despite this, he knew he would pass without breaking a sweat.

**(1 and a half hours later, in the track field)**

"The physical part of the exam will be administered now. We will have dashes, a full mile run, an accuracy test, and a small display of your best jutsu that you learned at school. Now as I call your name please come up and get in your starting position. Chouji Akimichi" Iruka began, working his way down the list until he called "Sasuke Uchiha"

Naruto perked up, a little bit. He had been sitting in the back being bored, ignoring the stares of the students. Naruto knew about the prowess of the Uchiha clan and wanted to see one in a little action. He watched as the dark-haired Uchiha took his starting position and on the whistle blasted forward, crossing the finish line in the fastest time yet. Naruto sighed as he was called and walked up to the starting position. Sasuke just gave him a condescending smirk as he passed, obviously thinking he had set the bar too high for the new student.

'If it's a challenge he wants…' the blonde thought to himself as the whistle sounded. He had deactivated his gravity seal right before the whistle blew, and shot forward. He cleared the 50 meters before the sound had finished echoing back, beating Sasuke by a full second. Said Uchiha was glaring daggers at the new arrival that was taking his limelight. This process repeated itself, with Naruto pulling ahead in every competition until finally they were at the jutsu part. Iruka explained that they must perform a jutsu that was taught at school, but if they chose to they could perform a 2nd one right after that to show off their skills.

"These are the jutsu taught at school, Naruto. Do you know any of them?" Iruka said, as Chouji did a clone jutsu and his family's Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Body Growth). Naruto perused the list and nodded before handing it back and watching the students go through their jutsu. It finally came down to Sasuke, who used the replacement jutsu and his family's signature Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu, which he kept going for an impressive 3 seconds before allowing it to go out. Naruto stepped up and thought for a moment before smiling and made a simple clone. Upon dispelling it he flipped though a few hand seals and finished it with a clap causing water to come from a nearby spout, spinning around him and shielding him from the view of the students.

"Suiton: Suishouha" he said calmly as more water came from the spout and spun tighter around him, surrounding him in a dome before breaking off at the top in the form of a wave which he sent forward at the field. The class was surprised at the overall size of the jutsu, and the fact that Naruto wasn't even winded like Sasuke was from his jutsu. With that the test was ended, and the class made their way back to the room.

**(In Iruka's classroom)**

"Okay class, here are the results from the test. Some of you may have noticed the Chuunin observing from afar to rate your performances. The ratings for each portion of the test are from E to S. If you got lower than a C you did not graduate, I'm sorry" Iruka explained, handing out folded slips of paper with the student's name on them.

"Now, if you did not graduate then I…" Iruka was about to explain before Naruto slammed his hand down onto the desk and stood up with a huge grin.

"YES! I GRADUATED! WOOHOO!" Naruto cheered, doing a small dance as he waved his paper around. Some of the students who had failed were glaring at him. Others were laughing and cheering with him as they had graduated too. Even Sasuke was grinning a bit as the blonde's happiness was infectious.

"Calm down Naruto-san. Now as I was saying if you did not graduate then I need you to step out of the room as I assign teams to those who have. Thank you. Okay now I know that with Naruto we have one extra person than what we intended, however, lucky for us the number still works out. Team 6 will be…" began Iruka. Working his way down the list. Naruto memorized each name as it was called out and which Jounin was to be assigned to the group so that he could add them to a new deck of chakra cards that he was organizing to collect data on ninjas that he's heard about or worked with. He wrote names down as they came up:

Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzuka.

Team 8 under Kurenai Yuuhi: Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, and Naruto Uzumaki.

Team 10 under Asuma Sarutobi: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akamichi.

Once the team had been called out the jounin would show up shortly thereafter and take them to one of the training grounds. At least, that's how it was for Team 10 and 8. Naruto noticed a woman open the door after his team got called. She had black, shoulder-length hair, and very unique eyes that were red in color, with an additional ring. She wore red a mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this was a very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs were wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector and regular shinobi sandals. All in all she was incredibly beautiful, and Naruto's only slightly perverted side agreed with her outfit tremendously. Naruto was happy that he was on the same team as Hinata, and as he left with his team he smiled at said girl which seemed to be a bad idea, since she passed out as soon as the door closed behind them.

A/N: Woo. Finally done rewriting chapter 6. It took a much different turn at the end than I had before. I hope you liked it and that you will review. I'll begin writing the next chapter very soon.


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